System Requirement Recommendations for Sims2

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.the-sims (More info?)

I've put off buying The Sims 2 (and the subsequent expansion pack)
mainly because of Maxis' notoriety for releasing software with holes,
glitches, bugs, and no supporting software (Edith who?).

I'm finally ready to break down and buy the program, but before I do,
I'd like to know what everyone here recommends as the minimum system
requirements.

I know what the box says. I want to know "in reality" - not "in
theory". I want it to run reasonably fast and the load time should be
at least somewhere 20 minutes or less.

Also, having been content to putter around with The Sims (original) for
a while now, I'm not really in-the-loop as far as fan sites go. How
much non-Maxis material is there for S2? Is it approaching anywhere
near the availability of downloads for S1?

Thank you for your input.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.the-sims (More info?)

Maxon wrote:
> The new game doesn't load up in the same way Sims 1 did, so the wait
for
> start up is a couple of minutes maximum on a half-way decent system.
I got
> this computer over two years ago, I've added some RAM and a new video
card
> with extra memory and it runs fine at the top end of the graphics
setting.
> Start up is less than a minute. I think the key is plenty of
operating
> memory.
>
> Best wishes
> Maxon
>

I should (finally) be getting my new video memory card and some
increased RAM in my new computer this weekend (says she hopefully).
This will take me up to having a 2.6gig cpu, 512mb RAM, 128mb video
card. Hopefully it should be ok to load from there. If not I may just
bite something.

~*~
vecki aka Katrina
"I can't be bothered typing a full sig each time."

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.the-sims (More info?)

TwitchyTweek wrote:
> I've put off buying The Sims 2 (and the subsequent expansion pack)
> mainly because of Maxis' notoriety for releasing software with
holes,
> glitches, bugs, and no supporting software (Edith who?).
>
> I'm finally ready to break down and buy the program, but before I
do,
> I'd like to know what everyone here recommends as the minimum system
> requirements.
>
> I know what the box says. I want to know "in reality" - not "in
> theory". I want it to run reasonably fast and the load time should
be
> at least somewhere 20 minutes or less.

I was fairly happy with how it ran on my 1 GHz Duron with 384 megs of
ram and a GeForce 3. On small-ish lots (medium sized or less) I could
have 10-15 sims without it getting too choppy for my taste. (Graphics
were set to low, though).

Load time for the game itself was about 3-4 minutes. Once you get to
the main menu, it then takes more time, depending on how large the
neighborhood is. A small one, with only a few sims is maybe a minute,
a large one, with 1500 Sims takes maybe 5-10 minutes.

Once at the neighborhood screen, it then takes about 1 minute or 2 to
load a house. This is where custom objects and such slow down the
game, I think.


> Also, having been content to putter around with The Sims (original)
> for a while now, I'm not really in-the-loop as far as fan sites go.
> How much non-Maxis material is there for S2? Is it approaching
> anywhere near the availability of downloads for S1?

Quite a bit. There are lots and lots of new textures/recolors for
objects. And new meshes have just started being made, as well as
hacked objects.

About the only thing that doesn't exist are new animations, and that
will happen eventually, I hope.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.the-sims (More info?)

The new game doesn't load up in the same way Sims 1 did, so the wait for
start up is a couple of minutes maximum on a half-way decent system. I got
this computer over two years ago, I've added some RAM and a new video card
with extra memory and it runs fine at the top end of the graphics setting.
Start up is less than a minute. I think the key is plenty of operating
memory.

Best wishes
Maxon


"TwitchyTweek" <twitchytweek@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1107977353.106013.115780@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
> I've put off buying The Sims 2 (and the subsequent expansion pack)
> mainly because of Maxis' notoriety for releasing software with holes,
> glitches, bugs, and no supporting software (Edith who?).
>
> I'm finally ready to break down and buy the program, but before I do,
> I'd like to know what everyone here recommends as the minimum system
> requirements.
>
> I know what the box says. I want to know "in reality" - not "in
> theory". I want it to run reasonably fast and the load time should be
> at least somewhere 20 minutes or less.
>
> Also, having been content to putter around with The Sims (original) for
> a while now, I'm not really in-the-loop as far as fan sites go. How
> much non-Maxis material is there for S2? Is it approaching anywhere
> near the availability of downloads for S1?
>
> Thank you for your input.
>

 

[Jenn]

Archived from groups: alt.games.the-sims (More info?)

"TwitchyTweek" <twitchytweek@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1107977353.106013.115780@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
> I've put off buying The Sims 2 (and the subsequent expansion pack)
> mainly because of Maxis' notoriety for releasing software with holes,
> glitches, bugs, and no supporting software (Edith who?).
>
> I'm finally ready to break down and buy the program, but before I do,
> I'd like to know what everyone here recommends as the minimum system
> requirements.
>
> I know what the box says. I want to know "in reality" - not "in
> theory". I want it to run reasonably fast and the load time should be
> at least somewhere 20 minutes or less.
>
> Also, having been content to putter around with The Sims (original) for
> a while now, I'm not really in-the-loop as far as fan sites go. How
> much non-Maxis material is there for S2? Is it approaching anywhere
> near the availability of downloads for S1?
>
> Thank you for your input.
>

I have a 2.6ghz, Intel Extreme 64mbs, and 256mbs of ram. Sims 2 runs pretty
slow, but at least it runs. I'm planning on getting one of those 256mb
video cards, and more memory within the next month.

Jenn

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.the-sims (More info?)

"Jeremy Reaban" <jer@connectria.com> wrote:

>Load time for the game itself was about 3-4 minutes. Once you get to
>the main menu, it then takes more time, depending on how large the
>neighborhood is. A small one, with only a few sims is maybe a minute,
>a large one, with 1500 Sims takes maybe 5-10 minutes.
>
>Once at the neighborhood screen, it then takes about 1 minute or 2 to
>load a house. This is where custom objects and such slow down the
>game, I think.

Wow. I suppose the memory is the key here. For me, it takes less than 2
minutes from starting the game itself to arrive at a house, and I have
only a 2 GHz CPU. But with 1.5 GB of RAM and pagefile disabled, the game
does not ever swap to disk, and that probably slows you down. (I don't
have custom objects and such a large neighbourhood, though.) 1 GB of RAM
should be enough, but 512 MB is probably fine, too.

(10 minutes loading time remind me of the tape drive era in the 80s ;-) )

--
Philipp Lucas
phlucas@online-club.de

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.the-sims (More info?)

"Philipp Lucas" <phlucas@online-club.de> wrote in message
news:3709foF5223vuU1@individual.net...
> "Jeremy Reaban" <jer@connectria.com> wrote:
>
> >Load time for the game itself was about 3-4 minutes. Once you get to
> >the main menu, it then takes more time, depending on how large the
> >neighborhood is. A small one, with only a few sims is maybe a minute,
> >a large one, with 1500 Sims takes maybe 5-10 minutes.
> >
> >Once at the neighborhood screen, it then takes about 1 minute or 2 to
> >load a house. This is where custom objects and such slow down the
> >game, I think.
>
> Wow. I suppose the memory is the key here. For me, it takes less than 2
> minutes from starting the game itself to arrive at a house, and I have
> only a 2 GHz CPU. But with 1.5 GB of RAM and pagefile disabled, the game
> does not ever swap to disk, and that probably slows you down. (I don't
> have custom objects and such a large neighbourhood, though.) 1 GB of RAM
> should be enough, but 512 MB is probably fine, too.
>
> (10 minutes loading time remind me of the tape drive era in the 80s ;-) )

Heh, the floppy drive for the old C-64 was even slower than that.

Well, I got my new PC working, which is an AMD 64 3400 (they only run at 2.2
GHz, but are comparable to a 3.4-ish Pentium, though that's being a bit
generous) with 512 megs of ram. Loading time is a little quicker initially,
but much quicker when re-loading (ie, exiting a family and playing another
one). So I guess 512 is enough for it to load both the neighborhood and a
family, as opposed to just one.

I think for the neighborhood, it might be the number of houses that is key.
I have one in every available space in Pleasantview, and I've got the map
altered so I can see the whole thing (and can put them on the edges). I
probably have 200 houses on it.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.the-sims (More info?)

That sounds pretty good - I have more RAM but a the same sort of video card
(I couldn't get the most up-to-date ones because my computer is older and
the clips that take the cards have changed). Also my CPU is smaller.

You should be good to go. Oh, be careful you don't overtax your power
supply - mine burnt out with all the new stuff I shoved in (I put in new
drives, internal and external) and I had to replace that with bigger and
better too.

Best wishes
Maxon


"vecki" <vecsta02@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1107989343.303623.218620@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
>
> Maxon wrote:
> > The new game doesn't load up in the same way Sims 1 did, so the wait
> for
> > start up is a couple of minutes maximum on a half-way decent system.
> I got
> > this computer over two years ago, I've added some RAM and a new video
> card
> > with extra memory and it runs fine at the top end of the graphics
> setting.
> > Start up is less than a minute. I think the key is plenty of
> operating
> > memory.
> >
> > Best wishes
> > Maxon
> >
>
> I should (finally) be getting my new video memory card and some
> increased RAM in my new computer this weekend (says she hopefully).
> This will take me up to having a 2.6gig cpu, 512mb RAM, 128mb video
> card. Hopefully it should be ok to load from there. If not I may just
> bite something.
>
> ~*~
> vecki aka Katrina
> "I can't be bothered typing a full sig each time."
>